Curated by Nancy Mahl of Progressive Culture Works

Main Gallery:

What is Art Without Money?

Filthy Lucre examines the transformative power of valuation upon art and the people who make it. The artists, performers, and writers participating in the project have investigated the definitions and functions of art as a commodity and queried the practice of artmaking from inside and outside the realm of monetary exchange. The work, from the purely theoretical to the frankly hilarious, is by artists representing a broad spectrum of age, background, education, and commercial success. Particular focus is brought to unsalable art and what becomes of it, the effects of commercial success on artmaking practice, the spiritual function of art, defining the consumer of art, the difference between precious and valuable, the economic element in definitions of high, outsider, and folk art; and the ever-fraught relationship of artist and patron.

Visual Artists:

Denise de la Cerda, Ana Cordeiro, Evonne M. Davis, Terrence Hunt, Rik Wave Kapler, Mark Leger, Carrie Lincourt, Eric Linton, Jeff Lundenberger, Karin Luner, Nick Minenko, Erin O’Keefe, Orange, Eric Rhein, Henry Sanchez, Sam Sebren, Robert E. Williams, Paul Wirhun

Writers:

Jason Bauman, Mary Anne Caton, Anthony Christiansen, Caroline Gonda, Sally O’Driscoll, Michelle Washington

Panel Moderator: Jeannette Louie

Performance Artists: Agnes de Garron, Paul Wirhun, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence

About progressive Culture Works:

Progressive Culture Works is a changing ad hoc group of artists, performers, and academics who work together as a labor of love to explore specific themes. The themes are chosen by the curator on the basis of group interest and the likelihood of successful interdisciplinary participation. Since visual artists, writers, and academics usually work in solitude, these projects provide an opportunity for a larger interdisciplinary dialogue. They also challenge the participants to make their work legible across disciplines and to a larger audience. The work is presented in a non-commodified venue and usually includes a visual art exhibition, a reading and performance series, an academic panel, and a publication. Past projects have included explorations of cannibalism (literal and metaphorical); Catholicism; grief; the function of racism in our society; the Influence of parents on the intellectual and artistic process; the function of gender identity in our work; and the phenomenology of consent. PCW is an ethnically and culturally diverse group of multiple generations, and we are far from unified in our political beliefs. Our core functioning principal is a desire to experiment in our work in a venue free from commercial considerations, to work outside our regular spaces of presentation, and to function as public intellectuals who create work that is accessible, both physically and intellectually, to a larger public.